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Timeful is a free iPhone app that intelligently helps you find time to do the things you want to do, without interfering with the things you already have to do. It has a superbly simple and clear interface, and it uses machine learning on the back end to become smarter about how it helps you manage your time. Timeful also prompts you to think about new habits you want to develop, like going to the gym regularly or studying a new language each day. It's a great app for busy people.

Travel-confirmation emails always contain way more information than you actually need to get out the door and to the airport on time. One app that can help you get organized is TripCase. It does 90 percent of the work of culling and collating travel confirmations into one itinerary, resulting in a clear overview of your trip in chronological order, with flight details, hotel addresses, car rental reservation numbers, and more.

If you tweet, download the free Twitter app. If you don't tweet and have been on the fence about joining the masses, the iPhone app makes it easy and convenient to get on board the 140-character social network, or to be a silent lurker. It's true that since iOS 5, a lot of Twitter functionality is now directly integrated into the iPhone so you more easily can tweet photos or links that you want to share. But you still need the Twitter app (or another Twitter client) to read tweets, learn when other people mention you, and fully participate in the social experience.

Beer enthusiasts have flocked to Untappd to keep track of the brews they drink and their tasting notes. The app also lets you save beers you'd like to try, see reviews from other beer fans, look up nearby watering holes, and more. The app itself could use some improvement, but the community and database of brews is fantastic and make it one of the best apps a hobbyist beer-drinking can have.

Weather Underground is a simple and informative iPhone app, but it packs enough bells and whistles (and weather data) to keep the most info-hungry meteorology geek satisfied. If you want hyper-local weather stats, get Weather Underground.

WebMD is much more than a diagnosis app, although you certainly can use it to input symptoms you are experiencing and find some clues as to what's ailing you. It also contains listings for healthcare professionals and pharmacies in your area, as well as first-aid guides—simple instructions for dealing with an emergency that everyone should have accessible to them at any time. This free reference app is one you hope you don't need, but the moment you do, you'll be glad you downloaded it.

Wickr is a secure messaging app that destroys messages after a set period of time. The app compares cryptographic hashes of phone numbers and email addresses in order to find other users. Neither your phone number nor email address is ever in Wickr's hands, neatly side-stepping the problem of messaging services amassing huge amounts of personal information by copying your contact list in order to find other users. Though the app rightly puts security first, Wickr is easy enough to use for your everyday messaging.

Half the fun of having a smartphone is looking things up when you're in the middle of a bar bet—and hopefully proving yourself right. Wikipedia is the go-to source for fact-checking in the mobile age, and the Wikipedia app usually returns results faster than a mobile search engine.

The most comprehensive review app, Yelp turns out to be an invaluable tool for finding businesses nearby, especially when you're in a town you don't know well. Yelp's mobile app has helped me find a hairdresser when I was in a pinch in Washington DC, and a suitable lunch while driving through Ohio (shout-out to Moreland Hills!). Need to find an acupuncturist in Austin? Or the most popular coffee shop in Charlotte (emphasis on "popular" and not necessarily "best," by the way)? Yelp's the app to do it.

Formerly, YouTube came preinstalled on iPhones, but that's no longer the case. If you buy a new iPhone 5 , you'll want to install the YouTube app so that you can get quick access to all kinds of videos, from movie trailers to tutorials. I've relied on YouTube on my iPhone to figure out so many things in life that I am too embarrassed to ask someone else to teach me, from how to install additional RAM on my laptop to how to knit in the round. I thank my lucky stars it's free.

Jill Duffy is a contributing editor, based in Washington, D.C., specializing in productivity apps and software, as well as apps and gadgets for health and fitness. She writes the weekly Get Organized column, with tips on how to lead a better digital life. Her book, Get Organized: How to Clean Up Your Messy Digital Life is available for Kindle, iPad, and other digital formats.
She also spoke at TED@250, a salon-style conference at TED.com headquarters, about how to better and more sanely manage email.
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